Right now I’m sitting at my desk and writing in my blog instead of making corrections to people’s security clearance packets. The packets are a constant source of frustration for me. It’d be nice if I had received some prior training on security clearance procedures, but MIOBC didn’t touch on the subject and when I arrived at my unit everything was focused on the deployment. The person who was responsible for the whole procedure before I arrived in the BN is no longer in the Army, so my assistant S2 and I are stuck trying to figure out the process ourselves. Since I haven’t received any training I’ve had to search out advice from other battalions, brigade, and the people who I turn the packets into back at
Yesterday I baked my second batch of brownies in the toaster oven my parents sent me. These were chocolate caramel brownies with m&m’s on top. Very high calorie, but well liked by the people in my BN. The lack of a well-stocked grocery store makes baking from scratch a near impossibility, so I’ve resorted to using mixes and adding in my own touch. The PX has carried brownie mix for a month or two, but of course by the time my toaster oven arrived the PX had run out of the mix. Fortunately, I’ve grown used to the unpredictability of the PX inventory and so I bought a couple of boxes of brownie mix a few weeks ago. The sad part is that I am now out of all of my mixes and will have to wait a few weeks before my small order from netgrocer.com arrives in the mail with a couple more boxes of brownie mix and a bread mix. In the meantime I’ll have look at my toaster oven longingly and dream about when I’ll next be able to bake.
A few days ago I was able to talk to both of my sisters on the phone. I was very proud of my sister Heidi when she mentioned that she’s started to do 10 modified push-ups a day and has noticed and increase in her arm muscle. She inspired me to work on my push-ups, because that is an area that I’ve never been very good at and usually try and avoid except for when I have to take an APFT.
My smiling while typing on the computer and fixing my hair has led some of the people I work with to believe that there is a guy that I like and am conversing with online. I’ve tried to explain to them that I have communicated with some friends occasionally (hence the smiles because I like to hear from my friends) and that I fix my hair because it’s against regulations to have my hair flying all over the place, but my explanations have fallen on deaf ears. The assistant S-3 went so far as to try and figure out who the guy is and concluded that he’s a 1LT in the aviation brigade. He’s only about 8 months off with his conclusion. The truth is that there aren’t any guys at the moment I’m particularly interested in, though I do enjoy talking to and spending time with my friends.
Woohoo! It’s supposed to get down to 115 on Saturday. Actually, that’s not much different than right now because it’s been 115-118 degrees the past few days, but still it’s on the cooler side of really hot J
Okay, I’ve wasted enough time and should get back to work.
115F, dang. i thought it was hot outside at 103F today! hope your baking supplies show up soon. baking seems to be a popular stress reliever with my sister and her friends at school.
ReplyDelete